1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a process for the continuous treatment of fabrics, including woven or knitted fabrics. The invention relates to the type of processing in which the fabric is subjected to a pressing and fixing step using a heatable steaming cylinder, and, subsequently, to a decatizing finishing step using a steaming and suction cylinder.
2. Prior Art
In existing implementations of this type of fabric treatment process, the fabric to be treated is pressed and fixed by passing it around a heated, steaming cylinder beneath a thrust belt. The fabric is then cooled and passes into an intermediate store, from which it is subsequently withdrawn in order to be subjected to a decatizing finishing treatment, after which it must be cooled again.
It is necessary for the fabric to be thoroughly cooled before it is stored in order to prevent the formation of pleats in the fabric as it is folded for storage. This type of process is time consuming and expensive, because of the energy requirements of the repeated heating and cooling steps.